Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-11-02
THEY WOKE IN ETERNITY.
Eight Dead and Three Nearly So the Re-
suit of the st. Louis Explosion.

suit of the st. Louis Explosion.
ST LOUIS, Mo, November IA flash, fol-
lowed by dull roar, and then the crash of
walls convulsed the center of this city at
O'Clock Tuesday morning. and the clamor
that followed carried the rumor of the horri-
BILE calamity that had befallen three families
while wrapped in slumber. An explosion of
gasoline in the rear of the cellar of Michael
Newman's grocery store, IL South Fourteenth
street, had lifted the two-story building from
its foundation and dropped it back again in
a mass, beneath which were buried sixteen
persons They were: Michael Newman,
aged So years; Mrs. Annie Newman, aged 40
years; Miss Mamie Newman, aged Is years;
John Newman, aged IL years; Nellie New
man, aged Is years; Kate Newman, aged II
years; Eddie Newman, aged Is years;
Charles Devere, Mrs Charles Devere; Miss
Hattie Bryant of Columbus, Ky; Charles
Eitferd, Mrs. Beasley, and others unknown
The messenger of death had scarcely
wrecked the place before devastating fire
swept through the ruins and seemed bent on
Internal work Human aid was quickly on
the scene, but in such confusion that the hor-
ror seemed to increase with their efforts to
relieve the imprisoned victims
The force of the explosion was terrific, and
the entire block of buildings north of and
across the alley from the building in which
the explosion took place was Quilted by the
blast The Newman block, crushed in, was
covered by the roof, which had settled down
upon the ruins and formed barrier, through
which the rescuers had to cut way This
impeded progress, and threatening walls OF
either side overhung ready to crush the gal
liant men who pressed to the spot where calls
for help directed them. The roof was soon
removed, and in the debris were revealed the
mangled forms of the grocery mans family.
Two ladies, Newman's daughters were first
removed Mamie, 10 years of age was stih
alive, but mangled from the timbers and
charred by fire. was beyond hope of recov-
cry The firemen worked heroically and at a
late hour Tuesday night reported eight dead
and three seriously wounded, as follows:
Dead-Michael Newman, Mrs. Annie New
man, John Newman, Kate Newman, Eddie
Newman, Charles Devere, Mrs. Charles De-
we're, Mrs. Agnes Berzely. Wounded seri-
ousiy: Nellie Newman, may recover; Miss
Hattie Bryant, will probably recover. Ma
mic Newman, recovery impossible.
Six others who lived in the building, re-
ported missing, have been found, either un-
jured or slightly bruised.
For several blocks on either side of the
streets the conclusion shattered the windows,
and in the immediate vicinity on the oppo-
site side of the way the fronts of buildings
were mashed in by the terrible force, and
scarcely window or door remains. Walls
crooked, floors gave way and plaster fell
in almost every house within radius of 100
yards, and on the heads Of the sleeping resi-
dents fell with horrible audiences Their
mad rushing and flight from-they knew not
what-added more to their injury The
scene OF terror on the street was Illuminated
by the CHASTITY glare of consuming fame, and
the figures wildly running and gesticulating,
robed only in night-dresses, wildly told the
dread uncertainty and fright that had seized
the community
The general belief Ia that escaping gas filled
the cellar, and that Mr.. Newman kept a
quantity of kerosene oil and gasoline in the
cellar near the place where the explosion
evidently took place. The rapid fire and the
fumes Of ms burning indicate this The YES
sells and the oil, if there was any, have been
destroyed, and the only man that knows the
story is dead The escaping gas theory is
supported, however, by the store boy, Joe
Bienyenue who says that he was annoyed
during the afternoon Monday by strong
smell OF gas, and before shutting up the store
for. the night, at 1880 o'clock, he went through
the building looking for the open burner.
The financial loss is about SO. 600